Sunday, February 5, 2017

Plants of the Future and Edible Foodscapes Premiere at Plant-O-Rama 2017





As Bob Hyland, founding father of the horticultural celebration he christened "Plant-O-Rama" was thanking the packed auditorium at the morning session for coming to the 21st annual horticultural trade show, jobs fair, and symposium he conceived 30 years ago - it was worth noting that as he introduced the keynote speaker, Kelly D. Norris - that the young “hort-hero” is not yet 30 years old!

At the same time, Kelly is at the top of the Hort game - a leader extraordinaire in what has become known as the “Emergents” - meaning those young, up-and-coming leaders in horticulture.
I daresay it’s not far off the mark to affirm the Emergents and Kelly, especially, have totally “arrived.”
Kelly is a powerhouse plantsman with experienced knowledge -- so much so that I got to wondering later -- perhaps he is the long-lost prodigy or better yet - a reincarnation of Carl Linnaeus. While no doubt Kelly would have “grown” and “blossomed” on his own merits - (sorry - too rich to not use the hort references...), Kelly and his Emergent cohorts were introduced in a Rodale Press feature reported as the “next generation” of horticulturists by our favorite garden and hort author, Ken Druse.
(I have every one of Ken’s books - most autographed - and they are always relevant and delightful.) Thanks, Ken!
(And I’ve been buying the Ellen Hoverkamp scanner photography art showcased in his recent, gorgeous book, Natural Companions: The Garden Lover's Guide to Plant Combinations 

I was privileged to first hear Kelly speak at The New York Botanical Garden's 4th annual Hortie Hoopla - a robust career Green Day for NYC-area interns, conceived by NYBG’s Charles Yurgalevitch, Director, and I reported on the event at Garden Glamour.
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Left to Right: Me, Kelly Norris, Ken Druse

More than just plant knowledgeable - Kelly hits the hort “hat trick” of taxonomy/botany/design); moreover he possesses an old-soul dynamic and confidence not to mention, authenticity, that both astonishes and delights garden enthusiast audiences.

Kelly manages to blend solid science with dreamy experience. In fact, that is the essence of his charm. He’s never that “gotcha” horticulturist that is more keen to snap you into ID’ing a plant with its botanical latin name (which he of course does with professional modesty and frequency); rather he is one to provide that essential information in a practical and respectful way while he shares his cosmic love and adoration of all that the plant kingdom has to offer and teach us. 

Plus there is that infectious enthusiasm. This man can’t help teach us about “gardening with a purpose.”

For me as a writer and author, I’m also gobsmacked by Kelly’s language and vocabulary skills. He positively radiates - shimmers - and glows - with redolent phrases, adjectives, and verbs -- to better captivate and intrigue his audiences. This is a rare talent and his linguistic skills and oratory mastery captures, teaches, and excites us - all at the same time -- while never stooping to snarky (well, maybe a bit) or ever stooping to a holier-than-thou hort elitist platform that can be off-putting to many plant and garden design enthusiasts.

Planting for the Future
What Did Kelly charm us with under the rubric of “Planting for the Future”?

He talked about gardening as an “experience.”

There are things that increase the experience - and that is “essence of a garden’s style. “Plants should not just survive but they should thrive,” he admonished.

Gardens need to have a purpose. It was enlightening and refreshing to hear that we need to garden with a purpose. We need to savor our plants and the environment.

Kelly made a point that I personally think needs no amplification - which is that today’s gardeners need to have the passion that today’s chef’s possess. He cited how chefs are focused on ingredients - and that gardeners and landscape designers need to have that same cobra-like focus on using the best plant ingredients in the garden as chefs do in the kitchen and restaurant. I write about food and drink - coming at it from the garden perspective - and I can tell you that my work researching and reporting on farm-to-table and garden-to-glass - has its own struggles and triumphs - all of it based on the ability to source and spec ingredients - by and large those that are plant-based and come from reliable growers.

While it makes sense that food growers and farmers may have led the way because we eat these ingredients - there's that intimate relationship with a chef's culinary creations - there is also a growing awareness about the need to not only bring local and seasonal cut flowers into the home, but there has been a long-standing movement to use native plants in garden design.

From my perspective, the problem isn’t the gardeners, but rather the plant nurseries that don’t stock the natives - they cater to the fashions and vagaries of what - the market? I am confounded as to how nurseries select, grow, and provide nursery stock. While many will readily admit they prefer not to sell exotics, or “invasives” - i.e. non-natives - they feel they must, because it sells.

I personally feel that it’s a closed loop - meaning that too many “landscapers” are merely “mow, blow, and go” guys -- and yes most are men -- and that they don’t know anything about the plants so they’ll take whatever is available at the nurseries - thereby inadvertently adding to the "it sells" strategy. Furthermore, the horticultural industry was too influenced by exotic plants that folks of means could afford to plant at their country houses and estates - so all fell in line to stock them…

Here in America, we gave short shrift to our native prairie grasses until a Dutchman, Piet Oudolf deemed them new and exotic for our gardens and parks, and suddenly they become the ornamental darlings they are today.

I go on..
But I do understand Kelly’s insistence that we need to have that passion for ingredients - in designing and creating our gardens - we need to pay attention to the plants that create the living palette or “dish.” It’s just that it does no good for garden designers like me to research and spec out the right plant for the right place only to have the nursery force the garden designer or true landscaper into a substitute. Or increasingly, breeders are increasingly creating or propagating plants that are patented - and possess branded products that aren't so readily available. We need to remedy this issue in order to truly make a difference and move the garden experience to where it’s beneficial for the sustainable ecosystems. Don’t you agree?

A really exciting element that Kelly presented and got the plant juices flowing - is to discover native and local plants “in the wild” that can thrive in our gardens. We can see how these plants have survived through climate chaos to grow in any number of “crazy situations” - and that because they can readily adapt, will work better in urban environments.

See, the thing is that even though we have a yearning for all things rural, more of us are living in urban worlds - and that’s only going to increase in the future. The plants that have proven themselves to be resilient and ecologically superior - are our friends. Let’s embrace them.

Plants are opportunists -- and context can be informational with a nod to ecology.

Kelly says he never uses wood-based mulch at the Des Moines Botanical Garden where he serves as the Garden’s first-ever director of horticulture. Instead he uses plants. Sedges are green mulch! Natural plant mulch will repair soil, capture nutrients, build biomass, according to Kelly.

He says there is a natural history to the plant combinations and ingredients he employs there so there is also that “sense of place” or Genius loci. 

Lesson learned is we shouldn’t forget that bottom layer of garden design. Plants can be that foil or cover for other plants as they go in and out of their “profile” or “portrait” moments… 
Think 3-D and the art of planting.

Further, Kelly suggested we garden designers - and by extension - you - consider scale. Most US home have a small footprint for the yard, all things considered, that is approximately 8,900 square feet - including the house. He pointed out that here is that enduring, sterile nature of suburbia with its endless lawn and foundation plantings… I think this started in the 1950’s and we’ve done so little or nothing to change our perception of American success from that vision of home ownership/lawn/flag of the housing developments that were created for returning GI’s and their families.  Isn’t it time we take gardening back to some of the natural plant companions that were plowed under to make way for these housing developments on a mass scale?! We can rediscover the beauty and charm of our native and natural plants, for sure.

Despite a garden's small size, Kelly cites the paramount need to provide more plant diversity -- noting that in some of his recent designs he’s included more 24 different species in a garden no more than 150 square feet. We need diversity in our plant portfolio just as we need it in our financial portfolio!

Native Plant Examples:

Examples Kelly provided included Eupatorium perfoliatum ‘Milk ‘n Cookies’ - an oh-so beautiful Boneset (burgundy foliage and white flowers) that “just need some friends to “lean on,” he joked. Don’t we all?

And like fashion on the runway - let’s think about New -- not those same ol’ petunias that one finds at the big box stores. Kelly showed a number of glamourous, strong dames including Silphium perfoliatum (Cup Plant)- Rosinweed that is a native, sunflower-like perennial is “resilient architecture,” stunning and has a lot of “sex appeal,” according to the Kelly. These plants moreover, hold the soil. Here the plantsman cited the tragedy of the Dust Bowl and how irresponsible plantings and arrogant development wiped away the top layers of soil. On the other hand, native Silphium has 10-15 inches of roots - a resource that does double duty. Plus the Land Institute and others are using Silphium to store carbon as well as to extract its oil for cooking and fuel. (Some claim it can be used with rice and 


molasses to avoid pregnancy!)

The aster family is truly breathtaking. I love its members and cultivars; using a variety of these colorful and strong plants in many of my garden designs.

Other water-wise plants Kelly suggested include, Eryngium leavenworthii - from the carrot family - this thistle or Sea Holly is strong and adds a showy and textured element to the garden palette. Other resolutions: 229 × 240 ...


Another example Kelly showed was the agave - in particular the Mangave ‘Lavender Lady.’ What a dame! This plant offers a big, smoky rosette - and rapid growth.  Geum triflorium, ‘Prairie Smoke’ was another beauty.
For dry shade there is the worst plant name ever: Diarrhena ovata (oops!) This is an American beakgrain ornamental grass that loves deep shade green and is evergreen, along with the much cuter-named Pussy Toes whose silvery foliage and late spring flowers add style to a dry shade garden as well as to green roofs.
What these hard-working natives have in common is their strength, ability to withstand climate chaos, and smart use of precious water -- they thrive when exotics have your water bill clocking ever upwards. So use them. These prairie plants can teach an urban (or suburban) city slicker a few tricks!

Kelly got us excited about being in a time where we are on the verge of “discovering” an entire new palette of plants.

It got me to thinking that while in past generations the adventuring plant hunter was revered because he found ever-more exotic plant species to bring back to our environment - the new plant hunter will instead research and find those hearty and beautiful plants right in our own landscapes - those that have learned to thrive and provide.  Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz said - “Next time I go looking for my heart’s desire - I won’t go looking further than my own backyard.” I’ve referenced those pearls of wisdom all my life but now it seems especially apropos. And it helps this reference that Dorothy was from the Great Plains - just like so many of these plant prodigies.

Kelly continued to provide plantings with a purpose and suggested that we design using plant “communities” using keystone species to achieve a kind of ecological minimalism.

And remember that “Plants provide Beauty and Purpose.”2017-01-30 10.00.02.jpg


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Landscape design is one of the true luxuries that appreciates with time. Unlike other art though - it is dynamic -- it changes every day, bringing added, newfound joy.

Edible Urban Oases 

The irrepressible Brie Arthur - another "Emergent" - spoke about edibles and the Foodscape Revolution which also happens to be the name of her first book - out later this year and now in presale.

She describes herself a true “plant nerd” but also claims to love insects in an “irrational way!” You can’t help but want to hug this woman. She advocates for living green walls -- suggested that if the Mexican “wall” was built using green, fresh vegetables, and herb edibles - she’d be all for it!

She points out how we need green infrastructure and with it we can surely feed the world. And our soils and souls. She suggests using common spaces of communities and streetscapes for planting edible ornamentals.

I’ve used edibles as ornamentals for more than decade for garden clients and they love the color and texture -- and the taste! It’s a delight to group edibles by color and season.

Brie detailed how to grow organics, and use hydroponics as well as aeroponics -- employing a soil-less growing medium - a space saving strategy that works especially for tight urban spaces.

A great suggestion Brie offered is to use edibles at the front of an ornamental garden -- within easy reach and much better for the garden bed than that wood mulch; thus adding more biological diversity, as well.
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Brie stressed the need for diversity in our edible gardens. Don’t think just tomatoes! She emphasized the beauty and ease and taste of growing one’s own grains and cruciferous plants. Lovely to see wheat and rice as part of an edible plant palette. My dear horticulture associate, EunYoung Sebazco was the first to grow rice in New York City - and has since devoted resources and experience to educating and exciting the rest of us about not only how to grow rice, but how this plant has influenced the world via its cuisine, nutrition, art -- think fashion, textiles, pottery, crafts, and fine art! See here at LiveRice.com - you will discover a new-found reverence for this ancient and hard-working grain.


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Brie refers to rice and blueberries as the “gateway” plants to edible foodscaping! She showed chefs at upscale country clubs growing ornamental - and edible - rice (purple and red) with astonishing and tasty results!

Trade Show
         




Later, we walked the trade show element of Plant-O-Rama. Some of my favorites there included:

Pennoyer Newman -- Virginia and her custom, classic garden containers and fountains that are always the talk of the show. Love the collections -- and Virginia!  
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Virginia Newman

Rare Find Nursery - This Garden State plant nursery offers unusual (compared to the aforementioned, nameless nurseries) and intriguing natives that add glamour to every garden I’ve sourced from Rare Find. The container ‘Rochester’ witch hazel they showcased at their table was intoxicating -- strongest of the fragrant witch hazels -- I’d never smelled one so divine. I once gave my girlfriend Jelena a ‘Jelena’ witch hazel for her birthday!
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Curb Allure - These metal tree guards are handsome and offer great utility. I first saw these creations a few years back and admire their look and their smart attention that work for the plants in the beds (including a “Pup-Pee Protector.) Too often the beds are lined with hardscaping that doesn’t allow for the water to reach the plants. This solves the issue.

Thank you, Plant-O-Rama.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Celebrate National Baked Alaska Day: Easy & Delicious Food Network Recipe & Fun Torching with Bernzomatic handheld blowtorch

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                   Baked Alaska - photo courtesy Bernzomatic Blowtorches


If entertaining and dining means not only homegrown, seasonal, and delicious -- but also a bit of theater - then today is your day -- it’s National Baked Alaska Day!

This fire and ice dessert never fails to add drama to the meal; sure to elicit gasps of delight - and applause - from your guests.

That this elegant dessert is oh-so-easy to make - is a behind the stage secret. You can prepare this confection ahead and place in the freezer until ready to serve.


Baked Alaska Recipe

Prep: approximately 45 min

Cook: 4 min

Yield:12 servings

Ingredients
For the Ice Cream Cake:

Vegetable oil, for brushing

1 pint raspberry, passion fruit or other sorbet, softened.

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened

1 quart chocolate ice cream, softened

1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs (about 17 crushed wafers)

1 loaf pound cake


For the Meringue:

1 cup egg whites (about 6 large), at room temperature

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 cup sugar


Directions:

Make the ice cream cake: Brush a 3-quart metal bowl with vegetable oil; line with plastic wrap. Fill the bowl with scoops of the sorbet, vanilla ice cream and half of the chocolate ice cream, alternating small and large scoops to create a mosaic of colors and shapes. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the ice cream; press down to close the gaps between scoops and even out the surface. Remove the plastic wrap, sprinkle the ice cream with the wafer crumbs and re-cover with the plastic wrap, pressing gently. Freeze until set, about 30 minutes.

Remove the wrap and spread the remaining chocolate ice cream in an even layer on top of the crumbs. Cut the pound cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices; completely cover the ice cream with the slices, trimming as needed (you'll use about two-thirds of the cake). Cover with fresh plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Make the meringue: Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar on high speed until the whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks.

Remove the top layer of plastic wrap, then invert the cake onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. (If necessary, let the cake stand overturned until it slips out.)

Remove the rest of the plastic wrap and cover the ice cream completely with the meringue, making the dome-shaped top slightly thicker than the sides. Form swirly peaks in the meringue using the back of a spoon. Freeze for at least 3 more hours.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the cake until the meringue peaks are golden, about 4 minutes, or brown the meringue with a blowtorch. Let the cake soften at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Freeze any leftovers.

Recipe courtesy of Food Network Baked Alaska recipe (with permission Food Network Magazine)


* I make homemade ice cream -- flavors are limited only by imagination. Vanilla with fresh beans is my go-to fancy - but I’ve also made corn ice cream to rave reviews. Try avocado (just experienced this delight while working the gardens at Hacienda Cusin in Ecuador!).

For upcoming Valentine’s Day or for Lunar New Year - try cherry, raspberry, or strawberry or Cotton Candy ice cream, or celebrate Lunar New Year’s homage to all things citrus with orange, kumquat or lemon, paired with Red Velvet Cake or go nutty with Almond cake.

* Feel free to add more cream of tartar if you need to bring the meringue to stiffer peaks.

To brown or “bake” the dessert without fretting that you’ll melt the ice cream, use a torch rather than baking in the oven -- you’ll be able to more readily and evenly brown the dessert. Bernzomatic Blowtorches are ideal -- the best one for the job is the Bernzomatic TS4000, according to company reps. The Bernzomatic is a torch that you buy from a hardware store or online via Amazon or Home Depot. Soon, you’ll find dozens of uses in the kitchen, including searing steaks, fish, crisping vegetables, crème brulee, and more.

 


Chef Michael Ferraro from NYC’s Delicatessen restaurant shows how easy it is to torch meringue in this video: (courtesy of Bernzomatic and Chef Michael)
The Bernzomatic is infinitely easier to use than the canister model I used - with the help of my husband, Bill, to brown the meringue.
You’ll feel so empowered, you’ll be torching and searing all kinds of foods - and cocktails and their Finishing Touches garnishes - to great applause!

Here is my step by step prep for a glamorous Baked Alaska:

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I spread the homemade ice cream on top of the cake - directly onto the temperature-seasoned serving tray (from Frontage Hot/Cold Serving Tray)
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Baked Alaska is the star of any tablescape

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Delicious too...


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Baked Alaska: photo courtesy of Bernzomatic Blowtorches


Take a bow.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Garden Glamour Tablescapes and Holiday Door Decor




One of the seasonal songs that keeps ringing in my head is the refrain, “It’s the most wonderful time … of the year.”

While it can be somewhat unnerving for us horticulturists in the northern temperate climates when the season demands we change out our sunscreen for windscreen and bandanas for winter scarves, I honestly embrace the opportunity to design something different than the garden beds brimming with perennials, annuals, trees and shrubs for my garden client’s exterior -- and bring the garden to the interior designs.

I’m excited to create seasonal container compositions, entrance decor, and tablescapes -- showcasing the beauty of the garden and how plants -- and bit of fantasy -- can help tell their personal and family stories.

Every design is different. No two garden clients’ look is the same -- each is unique because we are all special in our own way -- just as a plant or blossom is..

This season, one of my dearest garden design clients --and a muse -- needed to prepare for a one-two series of family gatherings: for both Thanksgiving and again for Christmas and Hannukah. What good fortune!
So too, there was a series of design and work stages in a series to produce the look she was hoping for.

We started by walking the property and noting where she wanted to change and boost the look. That turned into establishing a border garden on one side of the circular driveway (curiously, the other sides all possessed border beds of mixed plantings.)
Wow -- this area would be brought up to par. More on this later.

Welcome Entrance Design
In terms of the welcome entrance decor, I started by creating a private Pinterest board for my client to respond to. I selected a number of images that we could use -- a little of this, a little of that, and of course, adding our own personal touch and her special personality and taste -- that is her love of beauty.

Once we had a working composition, I set out to source the material to create the design.
That included the floral district in New York City -- those that Martha and Ralph Lauren use for their compositions - not far from my Gotham apartment - in addition to local craft stores, our own backyards and gardens, too.


My client and I determined we’d use/repurpose lanterns I suggested and she purchase some years ago from Restoration Hardware to highlight the pool.
I placed two of the lanterns on each side of the door, filled the bottoms with unpopped popcorn, and loaned my flameless candles that work on timers.
That was backed by two very large flameless candles that my client already had.

In addition, I made three sheave designs for each side of the door -- two each of wheat-color stalks of cereal grass and the center was her favorite color (besides white) of a potato vine bright green.

It was an elegant composition even before I did the posts and door frame! 
 

Later, I wrapped the posts in a spiral of burlap ribbons overlaid with gold silk flowers and berries. Over the door we hung faux Chinese Bittersweet berries -- that glorious, rich, cinnabar, smash-pumpkin hue. Brilliant -- and glowed off client’s signature hair color.


The door was caressed / wrapped in a kind of spun white and gold microfiber that has a life of it’s own -- all the better to nestle sweet moss-covered little bird’s nests and gold and white feathery little birds, perched in the nests and looking to welcome guests in a regal “love-bird” kind of way. 




The custom-made pumpkin topiaries are tiered like a three-layer cake.



For the designer pumpkins I used ghost, Cotton Candy, Blue Moon, Pump Ke Mon (white with green or yellowish stripes), white, the Tiger Tiger and very stylish Brode Galeux d’Eysines -- an heirloom pumpkin from France that boasts a pebbly texture that makes you want to almost pet the pumpkin!



I chose a mix of pumpkin styles with each layer a smaller size to create four distinct pumpkin topiaries.



We created this layered look by drilling a hole into each of the pumpkins in a set, then inserting a rod to hold the topiary together. 



I then “gilded the lily” -- hot glueing a mix of adornments: silk, seasonal flowers, leaves, ribbon, acorns from the property, grass head plumes, and ivy. 

Cinderella should’ve had it so good!


We anchored silk leaf “ropes” around the bespoke address light posts on the street side.


And wrapped a bit of it around the statue of Alice in the Alice in Wonderland garden (all dressed for the occasion to greet her former mistress, the client’s talented granddaughter). 


The entranceway was special, seasonally-appropriate and looks good in the day or glowing at night.














Tablescapes
In the same way, when asked to create a tablescape for the dining table using a crystal vase that measured just shy of a foot tall, I started by selecting some photos to post to the private Pinterest board in order to gauge the client’s reaction to a look and style.

I knew we should do a mix of ornamental and edible - given it was for a Thanksgiving celebration - so it should be about the harvest. 

 
I also knew the flora from both silk and fresh can be maximized.   This means the look can be de-constructed as the fresh flowers wane and the guests depart for home (whichever comes first!)













I created a series of low vases to surround the tall centerpiece (they can take away that away to foster easy table conversation) and still keep a pretty, glamorous, tablescape.


For the centerpiece it was a mix of rich hues: purple, bright green, pink, lilac, blue and white and gold was agreed upon.



For the small vases, it was gold football mums, magnolia leaves, and luscious as a candy apple rose called, Rose-Cherry Brandy whose gold amplified the mums and the delicate cherry color complemented the centerpiece -- and the red wine served up in the wine glasses.

Here too, I shopped the markets in the floral district in New York City where … plus sourced the fresh flowers from a local florist and flower friend.  I picked them up from her storybook home cum workshop and home-crafted greenhouse.



I filled the small vases with acorns, fragrant star anise and the fresh flowers.


I arranged the centerpiece with the silk flowers: ranunculus - green and burgundy red, peony, followed by the fresh: amaranth - red and green, roses, sea holly, ranunculus, two kinds of kale (love that frilly, ruffled leaves look). On site, I added the silk edibles: artichokes, clementines, and a few real purple turnips.

Around the centerpiece I placed faux grapes, gold baubles and beads to add just the touch of elegance this truly glamorous tablescape demanded.

In a room this grand, tall centerpieces can be almost be necessary.
And yet, those low vases facilitate the conversation - so good to have both low and high tablescape designs to accommodate guests.


Cheers to seasonal plant decor, tablescapes that sparkle and Finishing Touches. Remember, the eyes eat first - so be sure to design your home to welcome your family and friends with beauty and love.



Border Beds to be continued…



Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Thanksgiving Garden-to-Glass Cocktails using Homegrown, Seasonal Ingredients



This holiday the emphasis is on great food and drink. While the food often gets the spotlight - don’t get sidetracked by all the stuffing and gravy and miss out on creating a special, holiday-themed cocktail menu.

Here are a few of my favorites, with the emphasis on using lots of seasonal ingredients.

The Beverage Testing Institute awarded Strongbow the Best Tasting Common Cider about this time last year. I was fortunate enough to attend a tasting and dinner curated and prepared by oh-so-creative James Beard Foundation award-winning Chef Wylie Dufresne. Loved the lamb with barley, hibiscus-date and the Bay Leaf Ice Cream with brownie and Yuzu Fluff!

Strongbow has four cider flavors and each took home an award:
  • Gold Apple: gold medal, 92 points
  • Honey: gold medal, 92 points
  • Red Berries: silver medal, 88 points
  • Ginger: silver medal, 87 points


Hard Cider owns a very prominent place in American history - so what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving - this most American of holidays? And surely a drink that harkens to our colonists’ roots is needed to nurse our souls in this post-election sense of anxiety.

Gingerbread Sacrifice

Ingredients
1.3/4 oz Vodka
.33 oz Lemon Juice
3.1/2 oz Apple Cider
1.3/4 oz Orange Liqueur
A little Agave syrup
Gingerbread crumbs

Method
Rim a martini cocktail glass with agave syrup then roll in gingerbread biscuit crumbs. Pour 11/2 oz of lemon juice, 1 ¾ ozs of orange liqueur and vodka into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into the cocktail glass. Add 3.5 ozs of apple cider and stir.


More American roots cocktails

Here is another cocktail with a decidedly patriotic American history. I’m serving it as part of our Thanksgiving cocktails - not only because of its antecedent or pedigree, but also because the distillery is located near our Garden State home - and maybe most important :) I was inspired to create a cocktail and garnish for my soon-to-be-published book - Finishing Touches: The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail  (you can get in pre-sale!)  

Here is an excerpt I created and wrote for the cocktail and garnish book, along with suggested food pairing. 

For more than 300 years, the Laird family has produced AppleJack in Freehold, Monmouth County New Jersey - the Garden State since 1698. It is the holder of America's first commercial distillery with License #1. According to the company, Robert Laird - a descendent of founder Alexander - was a Revolutionary War soldier serving under George Washington, and the Laird family supplied the troops with Applejack. Historical records show that, prior to 1760, George Washington wrote to the Laird family requesting their recipe for producing Applejack, which the Laird family gladly supplied. Entries appear in Washington’s diary in the 1760s regarding his production of "cyder spirits."


I Cannot Tell A Lie

Ingredients:
2 jiggers Lairds AppleJack brandy
1 jigger caramel simple syrup
4 jiggers crisp apple sparkling water
4 shakes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters 

Method
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Pour over rocks in tall highball glass. Garnish with apple slice and cinnamon stick.



Food Pairing and Cocktail Composition
Serve with Quaker Rice Crisps Caramel Corn cups filled with fresh, homegrown apple butter. Add Godiva salted caramel chocolates (or other high-quality chocolates), sliced apples (rubbed with lemon to prevent yellowing), and sprinkled with cinnamon. The tasty treats echo the apple, caramel, and chocolate flavors swizzling in the drink.

Highlight the cocktail’s rustic, Americana roots. Feature the snacks on a wooden cutting board, sprinkle Cracker Jacks caramel coated popcorn and peanuts around the presentation; add apples - in various colors: red, greens - and various sizes, including those adorable Lady Apples. Some apples can be used as candle holders for an “honest” glow.

Toss in a Jacks & Balls (game) for a whimsical tablescape decor touch. Provide festive red and white straws to help spark an “honest” cocktail conversation!

While not American, this hard cider is undoubtedly delicious. And with all “honesty” our colonist ancestors had to learn their cider crafting somewhere - bringing over skills from their homelands and their ancestors.
Rekorderlig is a premium hard cider brand born and brewed in Sweden. I was fortunate to attend a few  taste-testing opportunity recently.  The cider is delicious served over ice with fresh fruit garnishes or mixed into cocktails, Rekorderlig is available in five flavors:
  • Pear 
  • Strawberry-Lime 
  • Wild Berries 
  • Passionfruit 
  • Spiced Apple.
Rekorderlig Spiced Apple Hard Cider is $4.99 for 16.9 ounce bottle. The company claims it is the only cider on the market that can be enjoyed either hot or cold; the product is a beautiful blend of fresh, effervescent apple cider infused with vanilla and warming cinnamon.


Hot Swede

Ingredients:
1 oz spiced rum
1 tbs honey - local is best
¼ lemon (squeezed) 
1 cinnamon stick
Half a bottle of hot Spiced Apple Hard Cider

Method:
Mix the rum, honey, and lemon together; Add hot Rekordlig and stir. Serve with a cinnamon stick and an orange wheel.


The Pear Jam

Ingredients:
1 oz Ford’s Gin
.75 oz lime

Method:
Muddle 1 Sprig Fresh Mint
Shake and strain into glass
Top with Rekorderlig Pear Cider
Garnish with Fresh Mint



Another spirit with lots of history that has recently experienced a resurgence is the small batch distilleries in New York, particilarly in the Hudson Valley. In fact, the number of craft distilleries increased by more than 25 percent in just one year (from 2014 to 2015) up to nearly 80. (Thanks, Governor Cuomo!)
I love Hudson Whiskey, the first legal pot-stilled whiskey distilled in New York state since prohibition, who sources 90% of its grains from within 40 miles of the distillery.

The distillery notes in a press release sent to me recently, “For the first time ever the Maple Cask Rye is available in 750ml bottles in addition to the well-known 375ml apothecary-style bottles. This Hudson Whiskey variant is the result of a partnership with Wood’s Syrup maple tappers who use Hudson Whiskey barrels to age their syrup then returns them to the distillery to finish off the Maple Cask Rye and impart a subtle maple sweetness into the classic whiskey. The Maple Cask Rye will have a recommended retail price of $54.99 and will join Hudson Whiskey’s signature Baby Bourbon, Manhattan Rye and New York Corn variants in larger size bottles, affirming the industry and consumer demand for Hudson Whiskey’s award-winning spirits.

“With Hudson, we set out to make great whiskey in New York again,” said Hudson Whiskey co-founder and craft distilling pioneer Ralph Erenzo. “With the investment from William Grant & Sons, we’ve been able to expand our production to support increased demand without ever cutting corners. BTW William Grant is the global brand that is genius at tapping into the crafted, hand-made spirits without losing its step as a major producer. Best of all worlds. Cheers to you.

Maple Old Fashioned

Ingredients:
2 parts Hudson Maple Cask Rye
Teaspoon good maple syrup
3-4 dashes (to taste) aromatic bitters
Garnish: apple slice and cinnamon stick

Method:

To an Old Fashioned glass, add maple syrup, then bitters, then ice, followed by the Hudson Maple Cask Rye. Stir well to mix and chill. Add garnish and serve.


Fall Back

Ingredients:

2 parts Hudson Maple Cask Rye
1⁄4 part fresh lemon juice
1⁄4 part maple syrup
2 parts apple cider
Cayenne pepper

Method:

To an Old Fashioned/rocks glass, add ice, then lemon juice, then maple syrup, then whiskey, then apple cider, and stir briefly to mix. Add dash cayenne pepper on top, and serve with straw.



Other Thanksgiving and fall cocktails to enjoy.

Delicious drinks made with one of my most favorite mixers: Q Drinks,


Dark, Stormy & Cidery

Ingredients:

3 oz chilled Q Ginger Beer
2 oz dark rum,
½ oz fresh lime juice
1 oz chilled apple cider
1 apple slice
1 lime wedge

Method:

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the rum and lime juice and shake well. Pour the Q Ginger Beer into an ice-filled collins glass and then top with apple cider and then the shaken rum. Garnish with an apple slide and a lime wedge. Try to balance the lime wedge on the apple slice like a sinking ship. It gets easier on the third drink.


Sailor Jerry Apple Ginger Punch

Ingredients:
1 ½ parts Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
2 parts sour mix
1 part apple juice
1 part ginger syrup
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Method:

Add ingredients into mixing glass, add ice, shake, strain over ice into a rocks glass and garnish with an apple slice and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a Caribbean Rum blended with 100% natural spices and flavors.



Reyka Snap Mulled Cider

Ingredients:
1 ½ parts Reyka Vodka
¾ part Snap Liqueur
3 parts Apple Cider

Method:

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake, strain into wine glass or mug and garnish with candied ginger on a skewer.

Reyka Vodka is an Icelandic born vodka and provides a smooth and crisp base for both complex and simple cocktails.


Drambuie’s Prince Pum King

Ingredients:

1 part Drambuie
1 ½ parts Pumpkin Puree
1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
4 parts Steamed Whole Milk (Or choice milk-base)

Method:

Steam milk, pumpkin puree and spices together until hot. Double-strain into cup. Stir in Drambuie. Serve in Irish Coffee Mug
Garnish with steamed milk foam and freshly ground nutmeg dusted on top.


Apples & Honey


Ingredients:

1 ¼ parts Drambuie
2 parts Kosher Pressed Apple Cider
¾ part Lime Juice
1 sm pinch Kosher Salt
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 part Kosher Sparkling White Wine (For dryer Cocktail 2 parts Sparkling wine)

Method:

Combine liquid ingredients and salt minus wine into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and stain over ice in a rocks glass. Top with Sparkling wine and garnish with thinly apple slices and mint.

Drambuie is made from a delightful combination of scotch whisky, heather honey, herbs and spices. This cocktail created by Drambuie Brand Ambassador Vance Henderson.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving - cheers to family, friends, good food and drink. And Finishing Touches!

Cheers!